Shakespeare at KS3 and KS4 - Match the famous lines
Shakespeare as part of the ‘cultural capital’
by Francis Gilbert, author of Starcrossed: Romeo and Juliet For Teenagers.
This resource, part of the ‘Shakespeare series’ of email newsletters and following on from
‘Introducing your students to Shakespeare’ [Teachit filename 21854] is designed to help
students see Shakespeare as part of their ‘cultural capital’ and familiarise them with some
famous Shakespeare quotes.
The basic idea
Some people think that you’re not educated if you don’t know certain bits of Shakespeare.
Whether you like it or not, Shakespeare has become part of the ‘cultural capital’ that every
student is expected to have. These exercises offer a quick and easy way of covering a lot
of ground very quickly. A ‘Bluffer’s Guide to Shakespeare’ if you like!
Applying it
The best way to do this is to take the most famous lines from Shakespeare and see if
students can match the play, the meaning and line. You can obviously choose your
favourite lines – I’ve chosen mine below. You’ll find some good suggestions here:
http://www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare/toplines/
Attached is a worksheet I prepared earlier, followed by answers. Photocopy the worksheet
and, if you like, the answers too, so students can mark their own work. The quotations are
separated from their explanations and the play itself. The students have to read through
the worksheet and try and match the play with the quote, and the meaning and context. In
the process they should learn about the important lines from Shakespeare. If you have
students of lower ability, cut down the number of lines to no more than three or four
quotes.
What’s the point?
This exercise enables students to learn about the most famous lines in Shakespeare by
thinking about their meanings and contexts. You can, if you like, leave out my ‘meaning
and context’ section and get them to work out the meanings for themselves, or you could
ask them to write their own meanings for the lines; what they mean to them. The ‘mix and
match’ exercise is good for classes which are easily distracted, and possibly not good at
writing; students can read the worksheet and draw arrows which connect the quotes, play
name and place, and explanations.
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Shakespeare at KS3 and KS4 - Match the famous lines
Independent research skills
This is an ideal opportunity for students to use the internet to explore one or more of the
quotes in depth, finding out more about it, looking up synopses of the relevant play on the
internet, reading the play itself either online, or watching it on YouTube (most
Shakespeare plays are there). They could gather all their notes/thoughts/links in a Word
document which they email to you, and then do a presentation to the class about what
they have found out from their research.
Putting pen to paper
Writing to inform, describe and explain: Students could write an informative leaflet
aimed at teenagers about the most famous lines from Shakespeare, explaining why they
are famous.
Writing to entertain, imagine and explore: Students could write a story based on one of
the quotes from Shakespeare, using it as inspiration for their story. Some films are based
on the lines already, e.g. Band of Brothers, To Be Or Not To Be, Murder Most Foul.
Writing to analyse, review and comment: More able students could research one of the
quotes in depth and write a paragraph or two about why the quote has become so famous.
Writing to argue, persuade and advise: Write a persuasive speech on any topic which
uses at least two or three of these quotes.
Variations on a theme
Students could do a slideshow illustrating the quotes with clips from YouTube or Google
images. Getting students to pick the most fitting Google images in pairs is a good place to
start; simply ask your students to type in the main topic of the speech or the key words into
the Google search engine and then see what comes up in terms of images. This exercise
gets students deploying their summarising skills – boiling down quotes to key words – and
also asks them to choose the right image for them; the discussion that results from this
should help them see ultimately that good writing is all about choosing the right image.
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Shakespeare at KS3 and KS4 - Match the famous lines
Line from play
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
If music be the food of love, play on;
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
Play
Macbeth (Act 5 Scene 5)
As You Like It (Act 2 Scene 7)
King Henry V (Act 4 Scene 3)
Sonnets: XVIII
Romeo and Juliet (Act 2 Scene 2)
Sonnets CXVI
Hamlet (Act I Scene 3)
Twelfth Night (Act 1 Scene 1)
Hamlet (Act 3 Scene 1)
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Shakespeare at KS3 and KS4 - Match the famous lines
Explanation/ interpretation
To exist on earth, or not to exist; to kill myself or not to kill myself; that’s the question that’s
really gnawing at me.
The whole of the world is like a stage at the theatre and every man and woman are simply
actors on this stage who leave and arrive on the stage; and every person over time acts
out many parts, which you could say are part of seven phases.
O my God Romeo, Romeo! Why did I have to fall in love with Romeo?
Shall I compare your beauty to a summer’s day?
Our army is very small; there are only a few of us. But the small amount of soldiers that
are here are happy because we’re like brothers to each other.
If music is the thing that encourages people to feel loving towards each other; if it is the
thing that feeds love and makes it grow, then please could the band carry on playing.
The most important thing to remember is to do what is right for you.
There are no problems that couples can’t overcome if they are true to each other.
The world just goes on and on with each day following another like a snail creeping along
the road until everything comes to an end and then we realise we’re fools because our
past lives have simply been a way of dying and turning into dust. You’re dead, snuffed out
like a candle that has only burned for a short time! The truth is that life is like an actor who
struts around the stage and then is heard no more. Or it’s like the story told by an idiot
which is full of noises and anger but means absolutely nothing.
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Shakespeare at KS3 and KS4 - Match the famous lines
Answers
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
To exist on earth, or not to exist; to kill myself or not to kill myself; that’s the question that’s
really gnawing at me.
(Hamlet – Act 3 Scene 1)
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
The whole of the world is like a stage at the theatre and every man and woman are simply
actors on this stage who leave and arrive on the stage; and every person over time acts
out many parts, which you could say are part of seven phases.
(As You Like It – Act 2 Scene 7)
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo
O my God Romeo, Romeo! Why did I have to fall in love with Romeo?
(Romeo and Juliet – Act 2 Scene 2)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day
Shall I compare your beauty to a summer’s day?
(Sonnets – XVIII)
We few, we happy few; we band of brothers;
Our army is very small, there are only a few of us, but the small amount of soldiers that are
here are happy because we’re like brothers to each other.
(King Henry V – Act 4 Scene 3)
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Shakespeare at KS3 and KS4 - Match the famous lines
If music be the food of love, play on;
If music is the thing that encourages people to feel loving towards each other; if it is the
thing that feeds love and makes it grow, then please could the band carry on playing.
(Twelfth Night – Act 1 Scene 1)
This above all: to thine own self be true,
The most important thing to remember is to do what is right for you.
(Hamlet – Act 1 Scene 3)
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments
There are no problems that couples can’t overcome if they are true to each other.
(Sonnets: CXVI)
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
The world just goes on and on with each day following another like a snail creeping along
the road until everything comes to an end and then we realise we’re fools because our
past lives have simply been a way of dying and turning into dust. You’re dead, snuffed out
like a candle that has only burned for a short time! The truth is that life is like an actor who
struts around the stage and then is heard no more. Or it’s like the story told by an idiot
which is full of noises and anger but means absolutely nothing.
(Macbeth – Act 5 Scene 5)
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